Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani

FOR millions of Nigerians and international observers, the wait for the judgments of the Presidential Election Petitions Court is over with the cockcrow of Wednesday (today). With bated breath, many will stay glued to their digital devices for the televised live proceedings from the Tribunal venue at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, the nation’s political capital. The curiosity mixed with anxiety are palpable from Port Harcourt in Southern Nigeria to Potiskum in faraway Northern region and from Yola to Oyo as Nigerians turn their eyes to the judiciary for its verdict on the February 25, 2023 keenly contested presidential…

THE Police in Republic of Benin, a neighbouring West African country, has detained the Editor of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Damilola Ayeni. Ayeni was arrested by Benin authorities while on a trip to the country for the second session of a Nigeria-Benin environmental journalism report in the largest city in their northern region, according to FIJ. In a report, FIJ said it received a distress text from Ayeni but it was deleted within seconds of delivery on one of its communication channels. The text read: “I have just been arrested.” The report said no other message followed the…

A FORMER Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Tuesday, said the protest that trailed the fuel subsidy removal during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 was due to political interests. Fayemi said this in his keynote address delivered at a national dialogue organised to celebrate the 60th birthday celebration of the founding National Secretary of Alliance for Democracy and Fellow, Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, Professor Udenta Udenta in Abuja. The programme was attended by Jonathan, former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, among others. This newspaper reports…

SOME government ministries, departments and agencies in Abuja are currently shut in solidarity with the two-day nationwide strike declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress, this newspaper observed. Our correspondent who visited the Federal Secretariat on Tuesday morning alongside other major areas such as the popular radio house which houses some agencies under the Ministry of Information and National Orientation observed that the areas were deserted as workers decided to stay back home. Banks located in the areas surveyed were also under lock and key. Our correspondent who visited one of the major commercial banks located at the Federal Secretariat was…

THE 14th Emir of Kano, Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said the purported economic growth in Nigeria over the last eight years was nothing but a lie. Khalifa, who is a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stated this during his regular Islamic teaching sessions over the weekend. According to leader of the Tijjaniyya Order in Nigeria, the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was to be blamed for the current economic crises being experienced by Nigerians and not his successor – President Bola Tinubu. Khalifa Sanusi explained that the excessive borrowing by the Buhari government crippled Nigeria’s…

AHEAD of the Wednesday’s judgment to be delivered by the Presidential Election Petition Court, the Presidency says that President Bola Tinubu is not worried about the outcome of the court. “He (Tinubu) is not worried simply because he knows he won the election,” said presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria. According to Ngelale, the President sees no need to threaten judicial officers, saying that the judiciary is in the best position to make independent decision based on the merits of the case before it. “The President sees no need…

THE leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has boycotted the meeting convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, with a view to averting the two-day warning strike already declared by the organised labour. Our correspondent, who is currently covering the meeting, reports that only the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) by its President, Festus Osifo, showed for the meeting slated for 3pm but started at exactly 5:52pm. The meeting has currently gone into a closed-door session, with the minister appealing to the journalists to excuse the stakeholders to deliberate on critical issues. The NLC…

PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday received briefings from service chiefs on their ongoing operations ahead of his proposed trip to India to attend the G-20 summit. The second regular routine national security council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja was attended by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-General Taoreed Lagbaja; Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla. This newspaper reports that the meeting on general security situation in the country, including review of areas where the service chiefs…

THE Department of State Services (DSS) says it has uncovered plans by some elements in parts of the country to stage violent protests in order to discredit the Federal Government and security agencies over sundry socio-economic matters. The agency’s spokesman Peter Afunanya raised the alarm in an early Monday statement but said the DSS has identified the ring leaders of the plot. “The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby informs the public that it has uncovered plans by some elements in parts of the country to stage violent protests in order to discredit the Federal Government and security agencies over…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will jet to New Delhi, India, on Monday to attend the G-20 Leaders’ Summit, his spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, has said. In a statement on Sunday made available to News Point Nigeria, Ngelale said the President will be departing Abuja for the summit in India on the special invitation of Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The President will travel to India alongside the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar; Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy Bosun Tijani; and Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite.…

THE bickering over the Contract for Service Boat Operations Monitoring Agent in the pilotage districts of Lagos, Warri, Bonny/ Port-Harcourt and Calabar came to an end on Wednesday with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) giving the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) a No-Objection approval to engage contractors who had been pre-qualified for the job. With the issuance of the Certificate of No-Objection dated August 30, 2023, the new firms are now due to take over the Service Boat Operations Monitoring contract previously handled for years by Intels. The new companies approved for engagement by the BPP are ICA Logistics Limited…

IN its desperate effort to avert the Nigeria Labour Congress’ warning strike scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, the Federal Government says it is ready to meet with the labour union on Monday. However, the labour union said there was no going back on the two-day warning strike, even as it affirmed that it remained open to negotiations with the government despite breaking its previous promises. Already, some state chapters of the NLC said they were ready to proceed with the strike, while some others said their executive committee would meet on Monday as a precursor to the strike. The NLC…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has recalled all ambassadors, both career and non-career. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, disclosed this on Saturday, September 2. Tuggar’s Adviser on Media and Communications Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir, in a statement, confirmed that all Nigerian ambassadors have been recalled. The statement confirming the recall of the ambassadors states: “Sequel to the inquiries on the letter recalling the Nigerian ambassador to the UK, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has clarified that all career ambassadors and non-career ambassadors have been recalled on the instructions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “Ambassadors as representatives of…

KANO state Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabiru Yusuf has described Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima as a gentleman of proven integrity, intellect and wisdom whose visionary and exemplary leadership has positively impacted on the lives of millions of Nigerians over the years. This was contained in a letter of felicitation signed by the Governor to the vice president as he clocks 57 years today, Saturday. Governor Yusuf expressed optimism on the capacity of Shettima to provide enormous contributions towards general development of the country as demonstrated during his two-term tenure as the Governor of Borno State. “I am very optimistic…

THE Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in charge of Economic Policy, Kingsley Obiora, was reportedly released by the Department Of State Service (DSS) late Friday after three days in custody. News Point Nigeria had earlier on Friday reported that Obiora was arrested by the DSS, in connection of a wider part of allegations of financial mismanagement under the embattled and suspended governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele, who is in custody of the nation’s secret police. A source within the CBN alleged that the Special Investigations Panel set up by President Bola Tinubu to investigate…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Friday approved the appointment of Khalil Suleiman Halilu as the new Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI). According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, by this appointment, Khalil Suleiman Halilu will serve for an initial term of five years in accordance with the relevant sections of the NASENI Act, 2014. “Halilu, 32, is expected to bring his significant experience as an innovator and technology expert to bear in this important new national assignment. ”The tenure…

THE Department Of State Service (DSS) has arrested the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria in charge of economic policy, Kingsley Obiora this newspaper gathered. Obiora has now spent four nights in custody under questioning by the security service, which has been looking into allegations of financial mismanagement under Godwin Emefiele, the ousted governor.  Emefiele, who was first appointed as CBN governor in June 2014, has been in DSS custody since June 10, 2023,  a day after he was removed from office by President Bola Tinubu. While two federal judges have ordered Emefiele’s release, the DSS has continued to…

FROM October 1, 2023, all international airlines operating from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos are expected to move from the old international terminal building, which will be shut down for repairs, to the new terminal building. The Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, said this on Thursday during a tour of aviation facilities at the Lagos airport. Keyamo also promised reforms in the aviation sector. According to him, all arrangements under his predecessor, Hadi Sirika, including the planned Nigeria Air, have been put on hold, to enable proper audit of contracts. The minister, who also took a bus ride…

PERHAPS stung by the ongoing military coup d’états’ in parts of West and Central Africa, President Paul Kagame has announced major changes in the security forces. The changes made by Kagame on Wednesday, August 30 affected high-ranking military personnel. Kagame retired hundreds of soldiers in a move that followed the promotions of several young soldiers in the country’s security apparatus and the appointments of new generals to head army divisions stationed in different parts of the country. A statement by the Rwanda Defense Force (RDF) showed Kagame had “approved the retirement of a dozen generals, 83 senior officers and six…

THE House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the utilization of Ecological Funds and other intervention funds of the Great Green Wall Project on Wednesday queried claims by the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW) that it spent N81bn to plant 21 million trees in the 11 frontline northern states. The states are Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe and Borno. NAGWW Director-General, Yusuf Maina Bukar, told the committee that the agency also spent N697.71m on renovation of office accommodation and N11.28bn on capital projects. He said the main funding of the agency was from 15…